Steffen v. McCracken

Ohio Court of Appeals

Steffen v. McCracken

672 N.E.2d 698, 109 Ohio App. 3d 492

CourtOhio Court of Appeals

DecidedFebruary 20, 1996

DocketNo. CA95-10-075.

StatusPublished

This text of 672 N.E.2d 698 (Steffen v. McCracken) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Steffen v. McCracken, 672 N.E.2d 698, 109 Ohio App. 3d 492 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996).

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Opinion

Walsh, Presiding Judge.

This is an accelerated appeal arising from an action to collect attorney fees filed by plaintiff-appellant, Albert J. Steffen, against defendant-appellee, Nancy McCracken.

The assignments of error are overruled. Under Section 206(a) of the Social Security Act, attorneys must petition the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) in order to receive fees for services rendered at the administrative level. Section 406(a), Title 42, U.S.Code. “The law requires the approval of a fee by the Secretary [of SSA] when the fee will be paid by a third party other than a nonprofit or governmental agency.” DeFour v. Secy. of Health & Human Serv. (E.D.Mich.1993), 818 F.Supp. 1045, 1048. In this case, appellant did not petition SSA for approval of his fee but entered into an unapproved contingent fee agreement with appellee. When appellee did not uphold her end of the agreement, appellant sued on a breach of contract claim. Accordingly, because appellant’s claim for fees must be approved by SSA, the municipal court was without authority to grant judgment to appellant and was not in error when it *494 granted judgment in appellee’s favor. See Cuozzo v. Sullivan (M.D.Pa.1992), 793 F.Supp. 102, 104.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

Koehler and William W. Young, JJ., concur.

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Walsh, Presiding Judge.

This is an accelerated appeal arising from an action to collect attorney fees filed by plaintiff-appellant, Albert J. Steffen, against defendant-appellee, Nancy McCracken.

The assignments of error are overruled. Under Section 206(a) of the Social Security Act, attorneys must petition the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) in order to receive fees for services rendered at the administrative level. Section 406(a), Title 42, U.S.Code. “The law requires the approval of a fee by the Secretary [of SSA] when the fee will be paid by a third party other than a nonprofit or governmental agency.” DeFour v. Secy. of Health & Human Serv. (E.D.Mich.1993), 818 F.Supp. 1045, 1048. In this case, appellant did not petition SSA for approval of his fee but entered into an unapproved contingent fee agreement with appellee. When appellee did not uphold her end of the agreement, appellant sued on a breach of contract claim. Accordingly, because appellant’s claim for fees must be approved by SSA, the municipal court was without authority to grant judgment to appellant and was not in error when it *494 granted judgment in appellee’s favor. See Cuozzo v. Sullivan (M.D.Pa.1992), 793 F.Supp. 102, 104.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

Koehler and William W. Young, JJ., concur.

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672 N.E.2d 698, 109 Ohio App. 3d 492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/steffen-v-mccracken-ohioctapp-1996.

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